


The Killer and the Kindness

by Shadowed_Ceraunophile



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Basically my take on Papyrus/Sans Backstory, Emotional Manipulation, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Gaster Blaster Sans, Gen, More Tags as it develops, No Romance, Pre-Undertale, Rating May Change
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-29
Updated: 2018-02-04
Packaged: 2019-03-10 23:34:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,511
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13512093
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shadowed_Ceraunophile/pseuds/Shadowed_Ceraunophile
Summary: King Asgore will save them all. They already have two souls.But the royal scientist might save them first. The Beast has already been created. All he needs is a way to control it...





	1. His Left Hand

There was a soft moan, almost a coo. It was slightly muffled by the glowing blue liquid in the cylindrical container. White fingers twitched and small legs reflexively kicked, testing out their mobility. Another soft grumble emitted from a tiny, empty ribcage.

A light turned on, illuminating the small figure of an infant skeleton suspended in the fluid. It didn’t react to the light.

Doctor Wing Ding Gaster stepped forward from a door off to the side of the tank, rubbing sleep from his eyes. He shouldn’t have fallen asleep; there was too much work to be done. He sat down at an observation desk and began looking through various files on his computer screen. He vaguely wondered if Macros had checked the thermal readings on the CORE and made a mental note to check with him later. Macros was typically dependable, but Angel above knows how many times he gets caught up with gambling at the New Home Casino. It was such a waste of time and consumed far too much of the money Gaster paid him, but he could do little to stop him. After all, not everyone was as concerned about breaking the barrier as he was. Perhaps not anyone. Except maybe the king.

At that thought, the skeleton man almost laughed aloud. Yes, the king was eager to break the barrier, but he was so utterly passive about it, waiting around for humans to fall and expecting them to somehow reach his castle alive so he could take their soul. Such a useless way to go about it. There had only been two humans to fall. Well, besides the king and queen’s human child, but they didn’t particularly count since their soul was lost to their dead son. But at this rate of soul collection, it could be centuries before they finally had enough souls to break the gate to the Overworld.

Which was what Gaster was there for. The king’s inability to act had brought about the need for the royal scientist to take action. It had been easy, really, to get the funding and resources and privacy he needed to conduct his experiments. All he needed to do was tell King Asgore that he wished to conduct research on the barrier and see if there was any way to reduce the number of souls needed to cross to the Overworld. This wasn’t a lie, of course, just not the entire truth. No need to tell the king more than he needed to know.

Upon this thought, the scientist reached into his pocket for his phone, remembering he needed to call the king for information about how the souls were holding up in their soul containers. There had been occasional problems of DT leakages, and Gaster intended to make sure they would never happen again. He was about to press the call button, but he froze. There was a small tapping sound, like a rat. If he had had lips, they would have curled. Rats? In his lab? 

The tapping came again. Gaster looked in its direction, bones materializing behind him. The sound was coming from somewhere behind his suspension container. No, the tapping was in the container.

Gaster’s eye sockets shot to the monitor standing next to the container. He had neglected to check the readings when he had first entered. Sure enough, life readings were showing positive.

Hardly daring to believe it, Gaster stood and crossed to the suspension tank. He watched as the tiny skeleton creature kicked its leg once more against the glass, causing the same tapping he had heard before.

A wide grin spread across the scientist’s face. It was testing its reflexes. It would not be long before it was ready to come out of the suspension tank. As soon as it gained consciousness...

Almost on cue, the tiny skeleton monster scrunched its closed eye sockets and made a face. Then it relaxed. Slowly, its eyes flickered open, revealing pools of blackness. Two pinpricks of white light appeared. It blinked. The lights wandered across Gaster’s face, trying to absorb the new stimuli. Unexpectedly, its jaws curved upwards slightly into a small toothy grin.

Gaster realized he had forgotten to breathe. Astonishment had completely taken over his thoughts. He quickly regained his composure, suppressing the feelings of elation growing in his ribcage. He could not celebrate just yet. The creature was living for now, but this was only a single, nearly microscopic step towards his ultimate goal. He needed to check the soul’s stability and DT levels. It could easily be another failure and disintegrate the moment it left its containment like many of its predecessors. No, now was not the time for celebration. Now was the time for action.

He reached out for his cell phone and quickly dialed a number.

The phone rang once.

Twice.

 

Three times.

“Doctor Gaster! What’s the news?”

“It lives,” the scientist said. His voice had a slight accent to it, not uncommon for skeletons, though his was slightly heavier than normal. “I expect you and Gorge here in no less than ten minutes.”

He hung up. He turned back to look at the suspended skeleton. It had gone back to sleep.

“It’s going to die. You know that, right?”

Gaster’s expression shifted to one of annoyance. “Perhaps, perhaps not. We shall see.” He turned around to face the creature emerging from the ground behind him. It was perhaps half as tall as he was with a rather pudding-like mesh of a face. It’s mouth was shaped in a crooked, mocking grin.

The creature chuckled. “Oh, come now. Don’t be proud. The last seven have all been failures. Sure, the last one made it out of the tank, but turned to dust the second you hooked it up to the machine.”

“Thank you, I am well aware of that, Clove,” the scientist said. He turned and strode to the control panel just to the side of the tank. He began tapping the controls to drain the tank of suspension fluid.

The creature--Clove--appeared next to Gaster only a moment later. “Are you really sure you want to do that? It could die before Doctor Macros gets here. Imagine how embarrassing that would be.”

Gaster opted to ignore the misshapen creature. He continued pushing various buttons until a loud gurgling sounded. The fluorescent blue fluid from the tank drained, leaving only the skeleton inside suspended by thin cords. Gaster raised his hand, turning its soul blue and lifted it in the air, detaching the cords.

“Are you quite sure that is a good idea? Its soul might not be strong enough to handle gravity magic.”

“If it cannot handle the simplest, least harmful form of gravity magic, then it is useless to my purposes,” Gaster said.

Clove grunted. His oddly shaped eyes followed the small skeleton monster through the air as it was carried over to an examination table where it was laid flat on its back. Only a moment later, Gaster was by its side. His hands moved quickly to attach various wires to its head and ribs. A steady beeping and whirring began to emit from the monitor behind him.

“In case you are worried, Clove, it is still alive.”

Clove snorted. “We’ll see how long that lasts.”

_____

 

“Angel above, it’s alive!” Macros exclaimed, his already enormous eyes widening.

Gaster sighed impatiently. He sometimes wondered why others felt the need to point out that which is completely obvious. He looked to Gorge, who was often the more astute of the two.

Gorge studied the small skeletal child. “It lives, this is true, but now that we know, what will you do?”

Gaster grinned slightly. Finally! A question worthy of an answer. “Macros, please arrange the CORE in this pattern before tonight. Do not move or allow others to move it unless I directly approve it.”

The small monster looked over the blueprints, eyes returning to their normal size. “Sure, doc, but why those rooms?”

“Because while it may not be a true monster, it needs to believe it is if we are to succeed.”

Macros nodded understandingly. “So you’re basically going to adopt it?”

Gaster rolled his eyes and Gorge let out a deep sigh. “I suppose that is one way to put it, but you are missing the greater purpose behind this act,” Gaster sighed.

Understanding dawned in Gorge’s eyes. “The willing gain of LOVE ensures quicker passage to above.”

Macros still appeared confused. “So, you’re going to love it? Isn’t that what adopting it means?”

“Gorge, please explain it to him later,” Gaster said impatiently. “I have work to do, as do you two.”

Gorge nodded, guiding Macros out of the lab. Gaster watched them leave, then turned back to the readings on the monitor.

“Keeping secrets, are we?”

“I don’t keep secrets, Clove. As the royal scientist, I am not allowed to do so.”

Clove cackled. “But you never were one for rules, were you?” When Gaster didn’t respond, they continued. “When are you going to tell them and Asgore that the fate of the Underground rests in the hands of a mutant monster with one HP?”

“It is not a lie or a secret until someone directly asks me what the nature of the creature is. They cannot see its HP and Asgore does not know about my DT experiments, therefore, their ignorance keeps me from lying. Does that satisfy your need for justification?”

“Clever, very clever. You always were one for loopholes, weren’t you?”

“I simply choose not to obey the rules that do not exist.”

Clove chuckled darkly. “So what are you going to name it?”

“Name it?”

“Yes, name it,” Clove scoffed. “Or did you forget your whole ‘make it willingly take us to the surface rather than make it hate us until it kills us’?”

Gaster sighed heavily. “Yes, I suppose a name is needed for our purposes, but since you seem so keen on it, why don’t you name it?”

“Really? I feel so honored,” Clove said, a cheeky grin twisting across their malformed face. “How about ‘Fluffy’?” They laughed at the look on the scientist’s glowering face. “Fine, fine I’ll be serious. Skeletons are usually named after fonts, right?”

“Yes,” Gaster said patiently. “He is naturally a bidialectal.”

“So let’s start there. What fonts does he have?”

“From what I can tell, a sans font and an aster font.”

“So, he took after his old man, didn’t he?” The creature chuckled darkly when Gaster turned to glare at him. “Then let’s name him...Comic Sans Aster. How does that work for you?”

“The name means little to me, but you seem pleased with it.”

“Since when has my pleasure meant anything to you?” Clove sneered.

“Who said it did?” The silence after his quiet retort told Gaster that the mutated creature had left.

Finally, some quiet. He could focus on the task at hand. He nearly chuckled at the unintended pun as he unwrapped the bandage from around his left hand. It revealed a large circular hole in the center of his palm. He doubted the hand would never work as well at it used to, but that didn’t really matter. With the newly dubbed Comic Sans Aster, he had no need for any hands.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey friends! I decided to try my hand at Sans and Papyrus's backstory. Hopefully it's not too horrible. I guess only time will tell.  
> Thanks for reading! Leave kudos and/or a comment, if you so desire. But it's your life. I won't force you.  
> Have fun and don't die!


	2. Experiment AM:CSA-1

_Experiment AM:CSA-1 Week 1_

 

“Is he supposed to be that small?” Clove asked distastefully. “I always thought it would be...bigger...more terrifying perhaps.”

Gaster studied the little skeleton. It did seem rather small, its head a little too round and eye sockets a little to large and teeth a little too dull. “It is only a week old. And we have no idea how the new DNA will affect its growth and power.”

“Speaking of...shouldn’t he look...you know, like a…?”

“Again, the new DNA might not manifest itself until he reaches maturity.”

“It is strange how you’ve always been so confident about your predictions, Doctor, but now you seem to be uncertain,” Clove said, carefully gauging Gaster’s reaction.

Gaster glowered at Clove. “No one has ever successfully combined a monster’s DNA or magic with another’s before now. In spite of my careful calculations, the subject could prove...unpredictable.”

Clove cackled. “I wish I had recorded that. History has truly been made today. The great Doctor W.D. Gaster has finally admitted he doesn’t know what will happen.”

Gaster’s hand glowed with a spark of blue magic. “Away with you. I do not have time for your commentary.”

Clove vanished in a fit of laughter.

 

_____

 

Sans carefully tugged at a strand of carpet, testing its strength. It was such a strange color. Sans didn’t quite know the word for it, but there was just something so plain about this taupe color. And the texture was almost as boring. It was smooth, but not so smooth that his phalanges could glide across it without catching on a frayed strand. But it wasn’t frayed so much that it had a scratchy texture. It just felt so...bland, in Sans’s opinion.

The walls weren’t particularly interesting either. They were just a plain, off-white color and were completely smooth.

At least the bed was sort of interesting. Sure, it wasn’t much to look at since it was the same off white color as the walls, but it was fun to arrange the sheets into different shapes and wind himself up in it.

What he found most interesting though, was the mirror. He would sit in front of it, trying to figure himself out. Of course, it had taken him a little while to figure out that the skeleton inside it was himself. After that, he would look at himself, trying to figure out how he worked. See, not much made sense. He had bones, he knew that, but how did they stay together? There was nothing connecting them. It confused Sans. But besides that, he found it interesting to watch himself curl and uncurl his boney phalanges. His eye sockets were also fun. He had a pinprick of light in each eye, but he found that if he wanted, he could turn them off. It was fun, but Clove said it was scary.

Sans liked Clove. They brought him food. They would also talk to him. Sans never really understood what they were saying, but it was fun to listen to.

Just in general, Clove was interesting. They would sometimes let Sans touch them. Clove felt funny. He was kind of squishy, but also scratchy. There was also something hard inside him if you pushed hard enough.

The man scared Sans though. He sometimes came in with Clove. He would always sit on the hard chair in the corner and watch them. Sometimes he would talk. He sounded funny. Sans had once tried to touch him, but he got mad. Sans didn’t try after that. Clove was nicer.

Speaking of, Clove came in. He was pushing the tray of food in with his head. Sans giggled. Clove was funny.

“Here you go, Sans. Fresh glop to satisfy your unending hunger,” Clove said in their weird voice.

Sans didn’t really understand them, but he liked hearing them. He scrambled over and grabbed the food. It was the same mushy green stuff he got every day. He didn’t like it very much. It had a little bit of taste, but it was mostly plain and mushy. But Sans ate it anyway. The man would come in if he didn’t.

Sans lifted the bowl and brought it to his teeth. It had taken him a few tries to figure out how to eat it without getting it all over himself. But now he understood. Clove had been happy when Sans figured this out.

Clove was talking again. They were talking about tails. Whatever those were. Sans suspected that they were something like fingers.

Then Clove started saying his name. “Comic Sans Aster,” over and over. He was looking at Sans expectantly.

Sans shook his head. He knew that was his name. His full name, mind you. Sans thought it was too long. So did Clove. That’s why Clove started calling him Sans. The man never said his name. Not even Sans. Sans often wondered what the man’s name was.

“Hey, Earth to Sans.”

Sans jerked back to reality. He tilted his head.

“Come on, say it. ‘Comic Sans Aster’.”

Oh. Was this the say each other’s name game? Sans had never spoken before. He wondered what it was like. Maybe Clove wanted Sans to talk instead of them. That would make sense. Clove did all of the talking. Maybe he got tired of it. Which was sad, because Sans liked hearing him talk.

“Clove.” Sans watched as Clove jerked back in surprise. Had he done something wrong? Maybe he wasn’t good at talking.

“C-come again?” Clove sputtered.

“Clove.” Sans pointed at Clove. Maybe they was confused. Maybe he thought he was calling the floor Clove, which was awfully silly of them. Clove was the only one named Clove.

“You just said my name!” Clove’s crooked grin widened.

Sans liked that. He smiled too. Smiling was good. It made his teeth hurt if he did it too much though.

“Doctor! Did you hear that? He said his first word!”

There was a shuffling over by the door. It opened and the man stepped in. “I heard it, Clove. I know.”

“I want to see if he’ll say yours!” Clove was still grinning. “Sans, this is Gaster.”

“Clove, I’d rather--”

“Say ‘Gaster’ Sans!”

Sans was confused. Was “Gaster” the man? So he did have a name. Sans wondered why he didn’t like Sans knowing his name. Maybe he didn’t like it?

“Come on Sans! Say it!”

“g…” Yuck. Sans didn’t like that sound. It felt weird. And Gaster was really long. Sans didn’t like long.

“Keep going!” Clove said. They seemed really happy. Sans liked it when he was happy.

“g…” He still didn’t like that sound. “Ass.”

Clove started howling. Sans watched in astonishment as they threw their head around, laughing louder than Sans had ever heard them laugh so loudly. Maybe he was hurt?”

“Oh, did you hear that?” Clove guffawed. “Finally, someone has recognized you for who you are.”

The man--Gaster--Didn’t seem happy. He seemed angry. Sans wondered what was wrong. “I am not amused.” Gaster turned and left.

 

______

 

_Experiment AM:CSA-1 Week 7_

 

“He’s already reading. Is that normal?”

“No, but not unheard of.”

“Any signs of magic?”

“None as of yet, but I do not anticipate any signs until he is older.”

“But you didn’t think he would start speaking until he was five weeks old. Perhaps he’ll show signs early.”

“I am well aware of that, Doctor Macros. That is why I intend to start simulations next month.”

“Doc, isn’t that--”

“I do not need questioning. What I need is for you to rearrange the core as such.”

“...Yes, sir.”

 

______

 

_Experiment AM:CSA-1 Week 9_

 

“hey, doc. where’s Mac?”

Gaster bristled slightly. Doctor Macros’ speaking habits had obviously been rubbing off on the young skeleton. “He will not be coming in today.”

CSA-1 shrugged indifferently. “what’re we doing?”

“Taking your readings.”

“okay.” CSA-1 stood up without being told. At least he was docile. He rarely ever needed to be told to do anything once he knew what to do and when to do it.

Gaster led him out into the lab. He carefully watched CSA-1 as his eyes wandered around the lab. He knew that the young skeleton was eager to touch the dials and monitors based on his curling fingers. Fortunately, he had learned not to touch them after only a single incident.

“Step onto the scale.”

CSA-1 obediently stepped on and automatically held out his arm. Gaster placed the wires on his various arm and finger bones.

“what do the numbers mean?”

Gaster sighed impatiently. He remembered why he disliked children. They asked too many questions that they wouldn’t understand the answers to. “They are the various measurements of your soul and its energy.”

“is HP one of those measurements?”

The scientist froze. “Yes,” he said slowly.

“what does it mean?”

Gaster measured his next words carefully. “It is the measurement of your life force.”

“oh.” CSA-1 was quiet for a moment. “what does it mean if you have only one HP?”

“It means your life force is very low. A single hit would kill you.”

CSA-1’s expression turned troubled. “what does that mean for me?”

In any other circumstance, Gaster would have been impressed. It was a question that even a child years older than him would fail to ask. But this was perhaps the best time to enforce his authority over the small creature. “It means that you are disposable. It means should I choose to dispose of you, you could do nothing to stop them.”

The subject was then returned to his quarters. Gaster ordered that no one interact with him until the next day. Best to give the creature time to let that statement sink in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really hate writing exposition. But worry not. The next few chapters should get a little more interesting. Hopefully. ':D  
> Just remember: Have fun and don't die.


End file.
